Legal Profession

This course offers a look at the organization, economics, operation, and ideology of the legal profession. We will discuss history, current trends and recent developments in the organization and operation of law firms, legal services offices, government legal offices, and corporate legal departments. We will consider professional autonomy, commercialism, and regulation (by clients, by the courts, and by regulatory agencies). We will contrast US legal practice and regulation with other professions in the US (e.g., medicine, accounting, engineering), as well as with legal practice and regulation in other countries, and the prospect for changes driven by globalization and cross-border trade in legal services. We will consider the effects of increasing demographic diversity on the profession. We will discuss ethical problems most often encountered in legal practice, and the effects of the regulation of legal practice on the organizations and institutions that deliver legal services. We will focus on issues and problems faced by entrepreneurs considering whether to start-up a new legal services organization. Enrollment is limited to sixty students.